Wood-bending machine.



s. 11. BAILEY. WOOD BENDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 3r 1908.

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SAMUEL R. BAILEY, 0F AMESBURY, MASSACHUSETTS.

WOOD-BENDING MACHINE.

starei.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 18, 1910.

Application filed September 3, 1908. Serial No. 451,476.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL R. BAILEY, of Amesbury, county of Suffolk, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in lood-Bending Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to certain improvements in wood-bending machines, and has for its object to provide a bending-machine which is adapted so to bend a st-rip of wood as to form a sharp angle therein, having the form of a miter, or other sharp-angled joint, and, further, to produce a machine which will perform the above-described woodbending function without cutting, breaking, or straining any of the fibers of the wood, or otherwise weakening the same, but which, on the contrary,.will materially strengthen the wood at the particular point at which the bend is formed.

A further object of my invention is to produce a machine which will perform the above-described functions with facility, so that the expense of forming a bend in a strip of fibrous material is much less than the expense of forming a joint therein.

I accomplish these objects by the means shown in the accompanying drawing, in which,

Figure l is a side elevation of a machine made according to my invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof. Fig. 3 is a central sectional view on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4L is a view similar to Fig. 8, showing the position of the parts after the joint has been formed; Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view on line 5 5 of Fig. 2. Figs. G and 7 are Views showing different methods of preparing the wood previous to bending. Fig. 8 is a detail sectional view showing the action at an intermediate stage in the bending operation. Fig. 9 is a view showing the joint after it hasbeen finished. Fig. 10 is a side elevation of a modification of my invention.

As shown in the drawing, two base members ce and b are provided, said members being arranged end to end in alinement, when both are in the initial or horizontal position, and having longitudinal recesses a and 2) in their upper sides adapted to receive the strips of wood to be bent, said recesses being connected at their adjacent ends and having continuously extending bottoms, and walls at their sides and opposite ends. Said base members are respectively provided with integral ears c and d, which overlap and are connected by a pair of pivot bolts e and f passing therethrough in axial alinement at each side of the recesses a', b. Said pivots are so located that their axial line is a short distance below the level of the bottoms of the recesses a and ZJ', and the adjacent ends of the base members terminate in the vertical plane of said axial line to permit said members to be swung from a position in which they are in alinement to a position in which they are nearly at right angles to each other. The adjacent ends of the side walls of the recesses a', b are beveled, as shown in Fig. 5, to permit said movement. A recess b2 is formed in the bot-tom of recess b at its end adjacent the member a, and a plate g is slidably mounted therein, the upper surface of said plate being flush with the bottom of said recesses a, 5. A spring 7L is provided between the opposite end of said plate from the member a. and a shoulder b3 at the end of recess b2, said spring acting to force the other end of said plate g against the adjacent end of the base member a, so that the surface of said plate g and the bot-tom of recess a are practically continuous. Then said members t and l) are swung toward a position in which they would be at right angles to each other, as the axis about which they move is below the upper surface of the bottoms of said recesses a, b, the engagement of the plate g with the end of member a will cause said plate to be forced toward the opposite end of the base member as shown in Fig. 4;. This action compresses spring 71A, which acts to return the plate g to the position of Fig. 3, as the members are moved to the initial position.

Clamping plates z' and are adapted to be arranged in recesses a', b, said plates being adapted to lit loosely in said recesses transversely and to extend from the end walls a4, b4, of said recesses to the beveled ends of the side walls of said recesses a', the adjacent ends of said plates z' and being correspondingly beveled and all of said beveled faces being arranged so that each face is moved nearly into engagement with the opposite corresponding face when the members are in their right angular position. Straps c and Z are adapted to-be secured by bolts m to the members a and respectively adjacent their pivoted ends, and each strap is provided with a binding screw a in the middle thereof, so that when the strip a2, of wood to be bent, is placed on the bottom of said recesses c ZJ and said holding plates z' and y' are placed thereon, said strip may be firmly clamped against the bottom of said recesses, Set screws o may be provided in the end walls a* 5*, which are adapted to force followers 2) firmly against the ends of said strip, so that the latter is held firmly against longitudinal movement in either direction. The clamping plateszl and are of such length that, when their opposite ends are held in engagement with the end walls a4, 6*, their adjacent ends will be in the desired position with relation to the axial line of the pivots, so that, in the compressing action hereafter described, neither the strip l nor the clamping plates can be forced back from the positions in which they are clamped.

Vhen the .parts are in position of Fig. 3, and the wooden strip has been clamped in place, as described, the members a and I) are c forced into a nearly right angular position, as shown in Fig. 4L, this movement being accomplished in various ways, as by rigidly securing one member and attaching a lever, or arm y, to the other, with which to force it to the desired position. This swinging movement obviously causes the strip a@ to 'be bent between the ends of the holding plates c' and j, and, as the axis about which the sections a, b, move is below the lower side of the angle of the strip, or without the strip after it has been bent, it follows that there will also be a compression of the wood between the ends of said plates z' and j, the extent of said compression increasing from the outer to the inner side of the joint thus formed, but at no point is any tension placed on the wood fibers, for the faces of the members a, b, which engage the outer side of the strip, are moved toward each other, as the members are moved to perform the bending operation, while the faces of the member a and the sliding-plate g are not separated in the slightest degree during said operation. rThis action causes the fibers on the inner side of the joint to be forced toward the outer side thereof, as indicated in Figs. 8 and 9, all the fibers between the ends of the plates t', y', being highly compressed and molded into a right angular form.

Inasmuch as the strip is securely clamped against the base members, a., b, by plates z', y', throughout its length, except as to the portion thereof between the adjacent ends of said plates, all, or nearly all, of the longitudinal compression due to the relative swinging movement of said members will be concentrated on said portion of the strip between said ends of said plates. Moreover, the action of forcing the inner fibers of the bent strip toward the outer side thereof, above referred to, tends to cause a -wedging action on the outer fibers, and this tendency is increased by the action of the supportingfaces of the section a and plate g in preventing bulging of said outer fibers, so that, if the axis of the pivot were located in the plane of said faces, an objectionable st-rain would be 'placed on said outer fibers, but, as the axis is located at an appreciable distance beyond these faces, the outer fibers will be compressed to an extent sufficient to contract this tendency fully. The greater the extent to which the strip is to be bent, the greater the distance which the pivotal axes should be located from the strip-supporting faces.

It is desirable that the preliminary inward bending or forcing Vof the fibers be midway between the ends of t-he holding plates z', j, or directly over t-he axial line of the pivots, and,in order to insure this result, it is preferable to form an indentation in the wood, as indicated at w in Fig. 6, at said middle point, or to form a recess m2 at this point, as shown in Fig. 7 -by removing a small amount of the wood.

In .practice the two base members are not moved quite to a right angular 'position in forming a right angle joint in the wooden strip, as I have found that a slight cavity is often formed at the inner portion of the joint, due to the inward forcing of the fibers above referred to, which cavity may be fully closed by drawing the strip portions to a iight angular position after removal from the machine.

It is unnecessary to steam or moisten the wood before performing the above described operation thereon, the wood being acted upon while in its vnormal or dry state. It is further unnecessary to keep the wood in the machine after it has been bent, to cause it to retain its shape, as the joint retains the shape into which it has been molded if the wood is removed from the machine at once.

As the upper `corner of the plate g next the member a constantly bears against the corresponding corner of the member a, or edge of the bottom of recess a, at the vertex of the angle formed by the outer sides ofthe strip when bent, and, as the beveled end faces of the plates 'al and j practically 'meet when the members are moved to the right angular position, it will be apparent that the outer sides of the strip will be continuously engaged at all times during vthe operation, while the inner sides will be continun ously engaged at the end of the bending operation, so that a perfectly square bend will be formed having the appearance of a miter-joint.

There is but slight tendency for thestrip to spread at the point at Ywhich the bend is formed, and this is practically all .prevented by the sides of the recesses a, Z2 in which the strip is held.

Tit-h the .above described machine lthe joints may be formed much more rapidly than by dovetailing or similar methods and the joint when formed is much stronger Vthan the adjacent portions of the strip.

In Fig. 10 a form of my invention is shown which I employ in forming two right angular joints, or bends, in the same strip.

In this form I provide two end members ao, which are identical to the member a already described, and an intermediate member bo, each end portion of which is similar to the pivoted end of member b, and is piv- .oted to one of the members (to. In this instance a single clamping plate j@ is employed on the intermediate member bo for each joint.

The operation in connection with this form is identical to that already described, except that the member be is held stationary and that both members (zo are simultaneously raised, so that any tendency of one end member to push the clamping plate jo toward the other will be counteracted.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is l. A bending machine comprising means for holding opposite portions of a continuous strip of fibrous material to be bent and Yfor bending an intermediate portion thereof and simultaneously compressing said intermediate portion longitudinally of its fibers throughout its entire thickness, Without compressing the adjacent portion thereof to a corresponding extent.

2. A bending machine comprising workholding devices for engaging a continuous strip of fibrous material at opposite ends of an intermediate portion thereof to be bent, said devices being constructed for relative movement simultaneously to bend said intermediate portion and to compress said portion longitudinally of its fibers throughout its thickness without compressing the adjacent portions of the strip to a corresponding extent.

3. A bending machine comprising two pairs of oppositely disposed clamps arranged to engage opposite sides of a strip of fibrous material adjacent the middle portion of the strip to be bent and constructed for relative movement simultaneously to bend and compress longitudinally, throughout its entire thickness, the portion of the strip between said clamps.

t. A machine for bending` a strip of material having longitudinal fibers, comprising a Vsubstantially continuous support for holding the fibers againstbulging movement at the outer side of the portion to be bent, and means for simultaneously bending said portion and longitudinally compressing the same throughout its entire thickness while held on said support, and forcing the fibers from the inner side of said portion toward the outer side thereof.

5. AY machine for bending a strip of material having longitudinal fibers, comprising a pair of holders having abutting portions provided with substantially continuouslydisposed supporting faces for holding the fibers against bulging movement at the outer side of the portion to be bent, means permitting relative movement of said holders to bend the strip and longitudinally compress the fibers at the outer side thereof, and means, engaging the inner side of said portion, for forcing the inner fibers toward the outer sides thereof as the bending operation is performed.

6. A machine for bending a strip of material having longitudinal fibers, comprising a pair of Work-holding members relatively movable to bend the strip and longitudinally compress its fibers throughout the entire thickness thereof, said members having supporting-faces for the outer side of the strip arranged substantially continuously and meeting at the middle of the bend, and means for engaging the inner side of the strip opposite said faces.

7. A machine for bending a strip of material having longitudinal fibers, comprising a pair of work-holdin@a members relatively movable to bend the strip ahd longitudinally compress the fibers throughout the entire thickness thereof, said members having supporting-faces for the outer side of the strip arranged substantially continuously and meeting at the middle of the bend, and an engaging-device on each member, for the inner side of the strip, disposed to be moved into close proximity to each other at the end of the bending operation.

8. A machine for bending a strip of material having longitudinal fibers, comprising a pair of Ywork-holding members having the work-holding portions thereof movable to different relative angles to bend the strip, and toward each other longitudinally to compress the same, said portions having supporting-faces for the outer side of the strip arranged substantially continuous and meeting at the middle of the bend, and an engaging device on each member for the inner side of the strip, disposed approximately equi-distant from the middle of the bend in position to be moved into close proximity as the bending operation is finished.

9. A bending machine comprising a pair of clamps having the clamp-members thereof disposed to engage opposite sides of a strip of fibrous material, to hold said fibers together, the clamp-members at the outer side of said strip having means for engaging the outer side portion of the strip to be bent, to hold the fibers from bulging, and

` the members at the inner side of said strip being held at the ends of the portion to be bent, said clamps being constructed for relative movement without separat-ion or in- -crease of distance between the portions of the clamp members engaging the outer side portion of the strip, so as to bend the portion of said strip between the clamps and compress the same longitudinally throughout its entire thickness and to move the inner clamp-members into close proximity as the bending operation is finished to mold said portion into the desired form.

10. A wood bendingl machine comprising a pair of work-holding members having faces for holding the outer side port-ions of a 'continuous strip of material to be bent, means for pivotally connecting said members to cause them to swing about a relatively fixed axis when moved to bend a strip held on said faces, said connection being so arranged that its said axis extends exteriorly of said strip to prevent separation of said faces during the bending operation.

11. A wood-bending machine comprising a pair of members having work-supporting portions provided with faces for holding a continuous strip of material to be bent, pivotally connecting means for said members having a relatively fixed axis which extends without the angle between said faces when said members are in bending position, the work-supporting portion of one member being normally held in engagement with the work-supporting portion of the other member and being movable relatively to, and transversely of saidA axis to permit said members to be swung to perform the bending operation.

12. A wood bending machine comprising a pair of holders having work-supporting portions provided with faces disposed to engage one side of a strip of material to be bent, means for clamping the strip against said faces and a pivotal connection between said holders having its pivotal line extending exteriorly of the strip, when in posit-ion, and at the side thereof next said faces.

13. A wood bending machine comprising a pair of holders having work-supporting portions provided with faces disposed to engage one side of a strip of material to 'be bent, means for holding` the strip in position on said faces, a pivotal connection between said holders having its pivotal line extending at the opposite side of said faces from the strip, when in position thereon, and means permitting movement of one of said supporting portions with relation to its holder, transversely of said pivotal line.

14. A bending-machine comprising a pair of work-holding members having engaging devices, for supporting the outer side of a strip to be bent, provided with faces arranged to form a substantially continuous supporting-face, and having engaging devices, for the inner side of the strip, disposed to engage opposite portions thereof, with. relation to the bend, said members being relatively movable simultaneously to bend the strip and move the opposite engaging devices at the opposite sides of the bend toward each other longitudinally of the strip as the bending operation is performed.

15. A bending-machine comprising a pair of work-holding members having engagingdevices for supporting the outer side of a strip to be bent, and having engaging devices for the inner side of the strip, disposed to engage opposite portions thereof, with relation to the bend, said members being relatively movable simultaneously to bend the strip and to move the inner engaging devices longitudinally of the strip and to carry the adjacent ends thereof into close proximity at the end of the bending operation, to mold the bent portion of the strip into the desired form.

16. A wood bending machine comprising two work holding members having means for clamping opposite portions ofa continuous strip thereon, and means for simultaneously swinging and longitudinally moving-the work-holding portion of one of said members with relation to the other to cause a simultaneous bending and longitudinal compression of an intermediate portion of the work, substantially as described.

17. A wood bending machine comprising a pair of holding members pivotally connected at their adjacent ends, said members having continuously extending supporting faces and clamping means for holding the strip to be operated upon against said faces, substan-` tially as described.

18. A wood bending machine comprising a pair of work-holding members pivotally connected at their adjacent ends, said members having continuously extending work-supporting faces, and means for clamping opposite portions of a continuous strip thereon, the axial line of said pivotal connection being located at the oppositeside of said faces from the work, substantially as described.

19. A wood bending machine comprising a pair of work-holding members pivotally connected at their adjacent ends, said members having continuously extending work-supporting faces terminating adjacent said 'pivotal connection, and means for clamping a continuous strip against said faces adjacent said connection, substantially as described.

20. A wood bending machine comprising a pair of work-holding members pivotally connected at their adjacent ends, a plate mounted on one of said members and movable longitudinally into engagement with the opposite member at its adjacent end, said plate and said opposite member having continuously extending work-supporting faces disposed between -the axial line of said pivot and the work, when supported thereon, and meansfor clamping a continuous strip upon said faces adjacent said pivot, substantially as described.

21. A wood bending machine comprising a pair of work-holding members pivotally connected at their adjacent ends, a plate slidably mounted on one of said members having means for yieldingly pressing it into engagement with the opposite member, at its adjacent end, said plate and said opposite member having continuously extending worlnsupporting faces disposed between the axial line of said pivot and the Work, .when supported thereon, and means for clamping a continuous strip upon said faces adjacent said pivot, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

SAMUEL R. BAILEY.

Witnesses:

H. B. DAVIS, L. I-I. HAMMAN. 

